The Siegrist's Mill Covered Bridge is an , Burr Arch Truss

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

over

Chiques Creek Chiques Creek (known as ''Chickies Creek'' until 2002) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Lebanon and Lancaster co ...

between Rapho and West Hempfield townships, Lancaster County in

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Owned and maintained by the county, its official designation is the Big Chiques #6 Bridge. The bridge's

World Guide to Covered Bridges The World Guide to Covered Bridges is published by the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges (NSPCB). It uses a covered bridge numbering system developed by John Diehl, the chairman of the Ohio Covered Bridge Committee. The comm ...

Number is 38-36-37. Added in 1980, it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as structure number 80003513. The bridge is less than a mile away from the Forry's Mill Covered Bridge.

History

The bridge was built in 1885 by

James C. Carpenter James C. Carpenter was an American covered bridge builder in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He is known to have built nine covered bridges, five of which still exist. Two of his bridges, Herr's Mill Covered Bridge and Colemanville Covered Bridg ...

. It was named after the Siegrist family who lived nearby. The bridge survived

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

in 1972 with only minor damage. However, the bridge was ripped from its foundations and swept downstream on September 8, 2011, by flooding caused by remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. The bridge's siding, roof and some structural members will need to be replaced. The repairs were expected to cost $750,000 and the bridge was planned to be reopened in November 2012., eventually re-opened in August 2013.

Design

The bridge has a single span, wooden, double Burr arch trusses design with the addition of steel hanger rods. The deck is made from oak planks. It is painted red, the traditional color of Lancaster County covered bridges, on both the inside and outside. Both approaches to the bridge are painted in the traditional white color.

Dimensions

*Length:

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

and total length *Width: clear deck and total width *Overhead clearance: *Underclearance:

Gallery

Image:Siegrist's Mill Covered Bridge from the air-1.jpg, Approach view of the bridge from the air Image:Siegrist's Mill Covered Bridge from the air-2.jpg, Three quarters view of the bridge from the air Image:Siegrist's Mill Covered Bridge from the air-3.jpg, Overhead view of the bridge from the air

References

External links